


No Matter What They Say

by StarlingHawke (Bowm8935)



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Father/Son, Gen, just a comfort fic after a bad day at school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 07:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10531659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bowm8935/pseuds/StarlingHawke
Summary: Tai has a bad day at school, and Saeyoung comforts him.This is post-All to Save Them, but a brief summary:Andy is a genderfluid MC that comes into the picture with 2 children and winds up falling in love with and marrying Saeyoung. The End.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fothetinyotter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fothetinyotter/gifts).



It’s Saeyoung’s turn to pick up Tai from school and he grins as he pulls up outside, patting the tickets in the pocket of his hoodie with no small amount of excitement. It’s the kiddo’s sixth birthday today, and he’s been planning this little trip for the two of them for quite some time by this point. About a year and a half, to be exact, but who’s counting? Certainly not him. 

He’s lucky the big day fell on a Friday because that means he can take his sweet time with Tai, with his  _ son _ (and boy, even after almost a year does it feel weird to say that); they can go eat wherever Tai wants, then they get to go to the planetarium, which Saeyoung may or may not have rented out for the entire night. Maybe. Then if Tai wants to stop for ice cream or something on the way home, Saeyoung will oblige him that as well. He wants to give his  _ son _ everything he never had, a happy childhood filled with love and affection. 

And candy, and ice cream, and toys and bikes and trips and cars and…

The car door opens and Saeyoung starts, immediately swinging that huge grin to Tai but it falters and falls off his face at what he sees. The boy who usually radiates excitement and joy looks crestfallen and upset, his eyes rimmed with red. Saeyoung is still sitting in shock when the seatbelt clicks into place.

“What… what happened?” he asks, his mind flipping through a million different scenarios, discarding each as they come to move on to the next. Most have to do with schoolwork or teachers, maybe disappointment over someone forgetting Tai’s birthday. 

Tai shakes his head, brown eyes downcast. “I don’t really wanna talk about it.”

Saeyoung narrows his eyes a moment, gazing at him thoughtfully. “Okay, then we don’t have to talk about it. But it’s your birthday, and it’s just you and me tonight, little man. I’ve some pretty awesome plans for us~” He smiles at Tai again, but he doesn’t look over. Hmm. Turning back to face the front, Saeyoung shifts the car back into drive and pulls out, making his way slowly back to the main road. His finger taps on the steering wheel nervously; he has no idea what to do right now. Maybe he should call Andy…? No, Andy would probably be just as clueless as he is; he’d told him that parenting is a learn-as-you-go situation. Saeyoung’s been around as long as Tai’s been in school, so he’d know if this had happened before. Not very helpful.

How does one get a kid to talk about something that’s bothering them? Saeyoung usually approaches issues with a rather machine-like thought pattern, but he doesn’t think that would work in this specific scenario. He feels at a distinct disadvantage since he never attended school himself; there’s blanks about the whole process, specifically the experience.

Okay, maybe he  _ should _ call Andy. Or at least text him. 

“Do you want to go to the park?” Tai shakes his head and looks out the window. “The toy store?” Another shake. “Um… okay, what about the ice cream parlor?” Still no. Saeyoung is running out of ideas fairly quickly. He wracks his brain for another possible distraction. Nothing pops up. 

It’s while the silence in heavy between them as he’s searching for ideas that Tai starts to openly sob. Saeyoung glances over in horror before spotting the nearest exit, pulling over and scrambling out of the car. Slamming open the door, he immediately unbuckles Tai and pulls him into his chest, rubbing his back in a soothing manner. His heart aches at the little body shaking against him, and Saeyoung wishes that he could take away whatever is bothering him.

Tai cries for a while, clutching onto Saeyoung’s jacket and sniffling. Neither say anything, Saeyoung assuming that if Tai wants to speak, he will. Gradually the sobs die down and Tai loosens his grip, pushing Saeyoung back just the smallest bit to look up at him with his big brown eyes still shimmering from tears.

“Do you want to talk now?” Saeyoung asks gently, and receives an answering nod. “Okay. What happened?”

Tai sniffs and wipes at his eyes roughly before launching into his story. Saeyoung listens closely, becoming more concerned and angry as it goes on. Since it’s Tai’s birthday, he was given first choice at most things today: activities, lunch, seating. That seemed like a pretty sweet deal to Saeyoung, at least until the other children started picking on Tai, calling him a loser and telling him to shut up about space because ‘no one cares’ and ‘you’re so annoying,’ among other hurtful things. But what really ticks Saeyoung off is that the teacher didn’t step in. At all. She just let the other kids harass Tai unchecked. That’s not okay.

“Listen to me, little man,” Saeyoung says, crouching down to be on the same eye level as Tai. “If space is what you like, don’t you let anyone tell you that you need to stop talking about it, okay? You love what you love, that’s just the way it is. And space is awesome, right?” Tai nods seriously, his eyes flitting toward the sky for a brief second before resettling on Saeyoung’s face. “I’ll always be here to support you, with space and anything else. As far as anything else they said… you’re you. You’re not annoying, or dumb or any of those other things, okay? You’re amazing. You’re kind, sweet, funny. Super smart - you’ll probably be smarter than me when you grow up, which is super duper ridiculously smart, right?” Tai giggles and nods, some of the sadness dropping away. “So you’re a little different from what they think you should be. Who cares? Be whatever makes  _ you _ happy, not them. Follow this.” Saeyoung gently places his hand on Tai’s chest over his heart. “You heart will always tell you where to go.”

There it is. A smile. Tai beams and throws his arms back around Saeyoung. “Thanks, dad.” Saeyoung bursts out in a grin from hearing that amazing word again. The man who never thought he’d have children… 

“Okay, feeling better now?” he asks, and Tai nods, letting go and crawling back into the car. “Give me a fist bump first~” They go through their not-so-secret-secret-handshake ending with Saeyoung tickling him, until finally he latches Tai in and shuts the door to raucous laughter. 

Sliding into the driver’s seat, Saeyoung looks over when Tai asks, “hey, dad? Can we still do all those things you mentioned earlier?” 

Saeyoung nods and starts up the car, but doesn’t pull onto the road just yet. “Of course we can. It’s your birthday, after all. Oh, and I was thinking about going to the planetarium, if you wanna…” he trails off, watching as unbridled joy seeps across Tai’s face. 

“Yes! Yes!” he cries, launching himself as much as he can to give Saeyoung another hug. Saeyoung chuckles and hugs him back, ruffling his hair. “You’re the best dad I could ever have. I love you.” Then Tai lets go, grinning with excitement and digging through his bag.

Saeyoung just sits there, feeling like the breath was knocked out of him and fighting back tears. It takes him a moment to recompose himself and start driving, a persistent smile tugging at the sides of his lips.

Yep. Being a parent is great. Saeyoung wouldn’t trade it for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? Did you love it? Did you... *gasp* hate it? Let me know! I'm always open for reviews, comments and helpful criticism.  
> I'm here to grow. :)
> 
> You can also find me on Tumblr as [cutiesaeran](http://cutiesaeran.tumblr.com/) or twitter [@MysticHawke](https://twitter.com/MysticHawke/)!


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